Aircraft hover system and method

ABSTRACT

An aircraft hover system for enabling an aircraft to hover at a target spatial location represented by GPS location coordinates. The hover system includes a display screen rendering a display including live video feed of the terrain below the airborne aircraft, a first mark overlaying the video feed, the first mark representing the current position of the aircraft relative to the terrain, and a perimeter surrounding the first mark, the portion of the terrain within the perimeter being substantially magnified compared to that of the terrain outside of the perimeter. The hover system is configured such that, as the aircraft approaches the target spatial location, the distance between the first mark and a second mark on the display gradually decreases until and finally the first and second marks coincide; the second mark representing the target spatial location.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/176,383, filed Jul. 5, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,527,117,the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety, and which claims benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/360,959, filed Jul. 2, 2010, entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HOVERING”, owned by the assignee of the presentapplication and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to Global Positioning Systems (GPS),Terrain Awareness Warning Systems (TAWS) employed in aircrafts, variousindicator systems employed in an aircraft, and more particularly to anaircraft hover system for enabling the crew of an aircraft to hover thesame at a target spatial location.

BACKGROUND

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VOTL) Aircrafts deployed for firefightingoperations, rescue operations, military operations, and the like, are attimes required to hover at a particular strategic spatial locationrepeatedly. This is all the more true in the case of firefightingoperations, as the aircrafts deployed therefore need to return to aparticular spatial location more than once in order to carry out theassigned operation effectively. The terrain awareness systems andaltimeters installed in the aircrafts help the crew thereof ascertainroughly as to where the target spatial location is located, however, asystem solely dedicated to this purpose is yet to be known in the art.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods according to embodiments of the present inventionprovide for ways to enable an aircraft to hover at a target spatiallocation. The indicator system includes a display screen whereon a livevideo feed of the terrain below the airborne aircraft is rendered. Thelive video feed may include a camera view or may be a generatedanimation using terrain data and GPS data. Other types of video feedswill also be understood. The display further includes first and secondmarks representing the position of the airborne aircraft relative to theterrain and the target spatial location relative to the terrainrespectively overlaid on the live video feed of the terrain. As theaircraft nears the target spatial location, the distance between thefirst and second marks decreases, e.g., gradually, and when the aircraftis at the target spatial location, the first and second markssubstantially coincide, e.g., to within a predetermined tolerance, suchas +/− zero to 10%, e.g., 3-5%. The target spatial location isregistered into the aircraft hover system by entering the GPS locationcoordinates pertaining thereto into a user interface integral with theaircraft hover system.

In one aspect, the invention is directed to an aircraft hover system forenabling an aircraft to hover at a target spatial location representedby GPS location coordinates, the hover system including a display meansrendering a display, including: (a) a live video feed of terrain belowan airborne aircraft; (b) a first mark overlaying the video feed, thefirst mark representing a current position of the aircraft relative tothe terrain; and (c) a perimeter surrounding the first mark, a portionof the terrain within the perimeter being magnified compared to that ofthe terrain outside of the perimeter. The system is configured suchthat, as the aircraft reaches a target spatial location, the distancebetween the first mark and a second mark on the display decreases untilthe first and second marks coincide to within a predetermined tolerance;the second mark representing the target spatial location.

Implementations of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing. The display may further include an altitude indicator sectiondisplaying a current pointer representing the current altitude of theaircraft, and a target pointer representing a target altitude of theaircraft. The distance between the current and target pointers may beconfigured to decrease as the aircraft arrives at the target altitudefrom the current altitude.

The system may further include means for delivering an aural alert asthe aircraft nears the target spatial location. The aural alert mayinclude a success alert, the success alert being delivered when thefirst and second marks are coincident to within a predeterminedtolerance. The aural alert may further include a stray alert, which isdelivered when the aircraft, upon arriving at the target spatiallocation, strays therefrom, by an amount greater than a threshold. Atany point, the visibility of the second mark on the display depends onthe distance between the first and the second marks, the degree of theterrain magnification set, and the specifications of the display means.The display means may include a display screen. The first mark may befixedly centrally disposed. The magnification of the terrain areaoutside of the perimeter may be adjustable. The system may furtherinclude an input for a global positioning system signal for receivingdata for the live feed. The system may further include a user interfacewhere a target spatial location including a set of GPS locationcoordinates are entered. The magnification of the terrain within theperimeter may be configured to increase as the aircraft approaches thetarget spatial location. The system may further include a marker means,such as a button, such that activation of the marker means at anyspatial location causes the same to be entered as a target spatiallocation. Each of the first and second marks may include a crosshair.The perimeter may be rectangular. The aircraft may include a VerticalTake-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as a helicopter.

In another implementation, the invention is directed to an aircrafthover system for enabling an aircraft to hover at a target spatiallocation represented by Global Positioning System (GPS) locationcoordinates, the hover system used in conjunction with a TerrainAwareness and Warning System, the hover system including a displayscreen rendering a display. The system may include: (a) a live videofeed of the terrain below the airborne aircraft, the extent of thecoverage of the live feed determined by a specification of a displaymeans and a degree of magnification of the terrain, the live feedreceived from the GPS; (b) a centrally disposed first mark overlayingthe video feed, the first mark representing the current position of theaircraft relative to the terrain, as determined by the GPS; and (c) aperimeter surrounding the first mark, the terrain within the perimeter,at any point, being magnified compared to the terrain outside of theperimeter; where the system is configured such that, as the aircraftapproaches a target spatial location, the distance between the firstmark and a second mark representing the target spatial locationdecreases until the first and second marks coincide to within apredetermined tolerance.

In a further implementation, the invention is directed toward a methodof enabling an aircraft to hover at a target spatial locationrepresented by location coordinates, including: receiving a live videofeed of terrain below an airborne aircraft; displaying a first markoverlaying the video feed, the first mark representing a currentposition of the aircraft relative to the terrain; and displaying aperimeter surrounding the first mark, a portion of the terrain withinthe perimeter being substantially magnified compared to that of theterrain outside of the perimeter. As a distance between the aircraft anda target spatial location decreases, the live video feed is altered suchthat a distance between the first mark and a second mark on the displayis caused to decrease until the first and second marks coincide towithin a predetermined tolerance, the second mark representing thetarget spatial location.

The objects and advantages of the embodiments herein will become readilyapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a display of the aircraft hover systemwhere the first and second marks are apart relative to the terrain.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the display of the aircraft hover systemwhere the first and second marks are coincident relative to the terrain.

FIG. 3 is a depiction of an exemplary computing device that mayconstitute the aircraft hover system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, a reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specificembodiments that may be practiced are shown by way of illustration.These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to beunderstood that logical, mechanical and other changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of the embodiments. The followingdetailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

Systems and methods according to embodiments of the present inventionprovide ways to enable an aircraft to hover at a target spatial locationrepresented by Global Position System (GPS) location coordinates. Theaircraft hover system may be a stand-alone system or may be an extensionof a Terrain Awareness Warning System (TAWS), which is typically coupledto GPS. The systems and methods may be particularly applicable toVertical Take-Off and Landing (VOTL) aircraft, and even moreparticularly to helicopters deployed for rescue operations, militaryoperations, firefighting operations, and the like, where, as discussedearlier, the aircraft is required to hover at particular spatiallocations for strategic reasons.

The aircraft hover system may include a display screen of any suitableresolution and dimensions known in the art. In one embodiment, thedisplay screen of the TAWS is used as the display means for the aircrafthover system so as to make more efficient use of the instrumentationalready employed within an aircraft. Referring to FIG. 1, the display 10rendered by the display screen includes a live video feed of the terrain12 below the airborne aircraft. The aircraft hover system may beconfigured such that the live video feed of the terrain 12 can bemagnified or reduced at any point upon the discretion of the aircraftcrew. A centrally-disposed first mark 14 including, e.g., a crosshair,or the like, is overlaid on the video feed where the first mark 14represents the current position of the airborne aircraft relative to theterrain 12. The aircraft hover system may be configured such that thefirst mark 14 is fixedly disposed whereas the live video feed of theterrain 12 is sensitive to the course of the aircraft. A perimeter 16,e.g., having a rectangular shape, surrounds the first mark 14 and may besuch that the portion of the terrain 12 therewithin is at a higher levelof magnification at any given point. As one of ordinary skill in the artcan appreciate, the data, e.g., the live video feed and the relativeposition of the aircraft, may be received by GPS and passed on to theTAWS or other system.

The aircraft hover system may further include a user interface where theinput details pertaining to the target spatial location are entered andreceived. More particularly, the user interface may include data-entryfields for entering or causing the entering (e.g., from another source)of GPS location coordinates pertaining to the target spatial location orlocations. Another input option in the form of a marker key or buttonmay be provided by the aircraft hover system. When the marker key orbutton is deployed at any spatial location, the same may be registeredas a target spatial location, e.g., an auxiliary target. Once thedetails are entered, a second mark 18, representing the target spatiallocation, is associated with the live video feed of the terrain 12 asshown in FIG. 1. The second mark 18 may also be in the form of acrosshair or the like. The visibility of the second mark 18 on thedisplay 10 depends on the distance between the current position of theaircraft and the target spatial location, the specifications orlimitations of the display screen, and the set magnification of theterrain 12. The first and second marks 14 and 18 may be of differentcolors for easier identification. As the aircraft approaches the targetspatial location, the second mark will be seen to, on a relative basis,approach the fixed first mark. When the aircraft is above the targetspatial location, the marks may be substantially coincident, or at leastcoincident within a predetermined tolerance, such as 0 to 10%, 3 to 7%,4-6%, or 5%. Other tolerances may also be employed depending on thesituation.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the display 10 may also include an altitudesection including an altitude scale 20, a current altitude pointer 22pointing to the current altitude of the aircraft, and a target altitudepointer 24 pointing to the target altitude. Of all the various types ofaltitudes known in the art, e.g., radar, pressure, GPS, and the like,pressure altitude may be especially employed as the same generallyavoids potential problems caused by gradients in uneven terrain. As onecan appreciate, the current and target altitudes can be obtained from analtimeter, which is a general feature in any aircraft. In oneembodiment, the details pertaining to the target altitude are enteredinto the user interface. The current and target altitude pointers 22 and24 may be of different colors and sizes for easier identification.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, as the aircraft approaches the targetspatial location, the distance between the first and second marks 14 and18 gradually reduces until they finally coincide. Also, in a similarfashion, when the aircraft arrives at the target altitude from thecurrent altitude, the distance between the current and target altitudepointers 22 and 24 is reduced and the pointers 22 and 24 finallycoincide, and this may also be to within a predetermined tolerance,e.g., 0-10%, e.g., 3-7%, 4-6%, 5%, or the like. The degree ofmagnification within the perimeter 16 enables the pilot of the aircraftto make fine adjustments without him/her needing to magnify the terrain12 at that point. In one embodiment, the aircraft hover system isconfigured such that the degree of magnification of the terrain 12within the perimeter 16 gradually increases as the aircraft nears thetarget location.

The aircraft hover system may further include a means for deliveringaural alerts to the crew of the aircraft at particular events. Forexample, an alert may be issued when the aircraft is at a predetermineddistance from the target spatial location. In another example, an alertmay be issued when the aircraft arrives at the target altitude. In yetanother example, a stray alert may be issued when the aircraft, uponarriving at the target spatial location, strays from the same, e.g., byan amount greater than a threshold, e.g., greater than 1, 3, 5, 10%,depending on the level of accuracy needed. Other values will also beunderstood. Yet another alert may issue when the aircraft strays fromthe perimeter 16. As one of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate,these alerts may be delivered through a suitable hardware, such as aspeaker, headphones, and the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates another depiction of an exemplary computing device 26that may constitute the aircraft hover system and perform the describedmethod. The device 26 includes a processor 28 and a memory 30 bearingcomputer-readable instructions capable of providing a user interface forentering the details pertaining to the target spatial location where thedetails may include GPS location coordinates pertaining to the targetspatial location. The details may optionally include details pertainingto a target altitude. The memory may accept such location or altitudedata from a separate sensor, or the same may be entered manually by auser. As an alternative to the above discussed memory 30, the device 26further includes memory 32 bearing computer-readable instructionscapable of registering a spatial location as a target spatial locationat any given point during the course of operation of the aircraft. Inthe similar fashion, the computer-readable instruction may also becapable of registering an altitude, at any given point, as a targetaltitude.

Still referring to FIG. 3, the device 26 may further include memory 34bearing computer-readable instructions capable of receiving anddisplaying a live video feed of the terrain below the airborne aircraft.The device 26 may further include memory 36 bearing computer-readableinstructions capable of receiving and displaying the current and targetspatial locations of the aircraft relative to the terrain. The device 26may further include memory 38 bearing computer-readable instructionscapable of delivering aural alerts at a plurality of predeterminedevents. Other memories will also be understood to be possible for use inperforming other steps noted in this specification.

The aircraft hover system may be fully implemented in any number ofcomputing devices. Typically, instructions are laid out on computerreadable media, generally non-transitory, and these instructions aresufficient to allow a processor in a computing device to implement themethod of the aircraft hover system. The computer-readable medium may bea hard drive or solid state storage having instructions that, when run,are loaded into random access memory. Inputs to the aircraft hoversystem, e.g., from sensors or from users, may be by any number ofappropriate computer input devices. For example, users may employ akeyboard, mouse, touch screen, joystick, track pad, or any other suchcomputer input device to input data into the hover system. Sensors mayinclude any sort of altimeter or any sort of navigational device. Datamay also be inputted by way of an inserted memory chip, hard drive,flash drives, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, or any othertype of file storing medium.

The outputs may be delivered to a user by way of a video graphics cardor integrated graphics chipset coupled to a display, e.g., on anavionics display. Alternatively, a printer may be employed to outputhard copies of the results. For example, outputs may be stored on amemory chip, hard drive, flash drives, flash memory, optical media,magnetic media, or any other type of output device. It should also benoted that the invention may be implemented on any number of differenttypes of computing devices, e.g., avionics devices, personal computers,laptop computers, notebook computers, net book computers, handheldcomputers, personal digital assistants, mobile phones, smart phones,tablet computers, and also on devices specifically designed for thesepurposes. In one implementation, a user of a smart phone orWi-Fi—connected device may download a copy of the application to theirdevice from a server using a wireless Internet connection. Theapplication may download over the mobile connection, or over a Wi-Fi orother wireless network connection.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, byapplying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for variousapplications such specific embodiments without departing from thegeneric concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modificationsshould and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangeof equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood thatthe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodimentsherein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can bepracticed with modification within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An aircraft hover system for enabling anaircraft to hover at a target spatial location represented by locationcoordinates, the hover system including a display, comprising: (a) alive video feed of terrain below an airborne aircraft; (b) a first markoverlaying the video feed, the first mark representing a currentposition of the aircraft relative to the terrain; and (c) a perimetersurrounding the first mark, a portion of the terrain within theperimeter being magnified compared to that of the terrain outside of theperimeter; wherein the system is configured such that, as the aircraftreaches a target spatial location, the distance between the first markand a second mark on the display decreases, the second mark representingthe target spatial location.
 2. The hover system of claim 1, wherein thedisplay further comprises an altitude indicator section displaying acurrent pointer representing the current altitude of the aircraft, and atarget pointer representing a target altitude of the aircraft; and suchthat the distance between the current and target pointers is configuredto decrease as the aircraft arrives at the target altitude from thecurrent altitude.
 3. The hover system of claim 1, further comprisingmeans for delivering an aural alert as the aircraft nears the targetspatial location.
 4. The hover system of claim 3, wherein the auralalert further includes a success alert, the success alert beingdelivered when the first and second marks are coincident to within apredetermined tolerance.
 5. The hover system of claim 3, wherein theaural alert further includes a stray alert, which is delivered when theaircraft, upon arriving at the target spatial location, straystherefrom, by an amount greater than a threshold.
 6. The hover system ofclaim 1, wherein at any point, the visibility of the second mark on thedisplay depends on the distance between the first and the second marks,the degree of the terrain magnification set, and the specifications ofthe display.
 7. The hover system of claim 1, wherein the displayincludes a display screen.
 8. The hover system of claim 1, wherein thefirst mark is fixedly centrally disposed.
 9. The hover system of claim1, wherein the magnification of the terrain area outside of theperimeter is adjustable.
 10. The hover system of claim 1, furthercomprising an input for a Global Positioning System signal for receivingdata for the live feed.
 11. The hover system of claim 1, furthercomprising a user interface wherein a target spatial location includinga set of GPS location coordinates are entered.
 12. The hover system ofclaim 1, wherein the magnification of the terrain within the perimeteris configured to increase as the aircraft approaches the target spatiallocation.
 13. The hover system of claim 1, further comprising a markermeans, such that activation of the marker means at any spatial locationcauses the same to be entered as a target spatial location.
 14. Thehover system of claim 13, wherein the marker means includes a button.15. The hover system of claim 1, wherein each of the first and secondmarks include a crosshair.
 16. The hover system of claim 1, wherein theperimeter is rectangular.
 17. The hover system of claim 1, wherein theaircraft includes a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. 18.The hover system of claim 17, wherein the VTOL aircraft includes ahelicopter.
 19. An aircraft hover system for enabling an aircraft tohover at a target spatial location represented by location coordinates,the hover system used in conjunction with a Terrain Awareness andWarning System, the hover system including a display screen rendering adisplay, comprising: (a) a live video feed of the terrain below theairborne aircraft, the extent of the coverage of the live feeddetermined by a specification of a display and a degree of magnificationof the terrain; (b) a centrally disposed first mark overlaying the videofeed, the first mark representing the current position of the aircraftrelative to the terrain, as determined by the GPS; and (c) a perimetersurrounding the first mark, the terrain within the perimeter, at anypoint, being magnified compared to the terrain outside of the perimeter;wherein the system is configured such that, as the aircraft approaches atarget spatial location, the distance between the first mark and asecond mark representing the target spatial location.
 20. A method ofenabling an aircraft to hover at a target spatial location representedby location coordinates, comprising: a. receiving a live video feed ofterrain below an airborne aircraft; b. displaying a first markoverlaying the video feed, the first mark representing a currentposition of the aircraft relative to the terrain; and c. displaying aperimeter surrounding the first mark, a portion of the terrain withinthe perimeter being substantially magnified compared to that of theterrain outside of the perimeter; d. as a distance between the aircraftand a target spatial location decreases, altering the live video feedsuch that a distance between the first mark and a second mark on thedisplay is caused to decrease, the second mark representing the targetspatial location.